New to the XD, tips?

Hey all, I just bought a new XD 9mm today. It's my first handgun, although I am no stranger to guns; far from an expert though. I picked up some range rounds, some higher quality rounds for actual use, and an Uncle Mikes holster. Any tips for a pistol newb like myself with the XD?

I was reading the manual, and it noted on ported models, but didn't say which ones were. I am unsure how to tell, but is this model ported?

I loaded a magazine, all 16 rounds, and my god was it hard to get the last few rounds in there. How is this speed-loader supposed to work, I couldn't seem to get any rounds in while using it. Damn near broke my finger trying to get round #16 in the magazine too.

Going to the range in the morning to try it out. Also, I always bring pics!

Hey, I could take those same pictures! Congrats, you bought a fine weapon. Best advice I can give you specific to your XD 9 is to burn powder. Shoot it two-handed, strong-handed, and weak-handed. Rattle off a few mags for the fun of it, but after that, have a purpose in each shot. At some point you'll get into the "zone" where every shot seems to know just where to go, and you'll walk off the range grinning at the way you shot. Then you'll spend 6 months trying to make it happen again.
Be anal about safety. You can't take a shot back. Aside from that, have fun. TALK to people when you're at the range. Shooting is a social event, and there's nothing more fun than half-a-dozen people taking turns sharing their various weapons and shooting the sh*t in between.
There are several different opinions on how frequently you should clean, so I won't go there. Don't use petroleum products on the "Tupperware" portions of your XD 9, and don't overlubricate. Aside from that, have fun!

I went and shot it today; put about 160 rounds through it. I love it. Accurate and feels great! I'll never buy Monarch again though. Safety is always a priority of mine, wouldn't even put a loaded clip in it until I shot it. I think I did really good, took a few slow, breathing controlled shots, and then I took a few clips of faster realistic shooting. Only had about 10 rounds not hit the red circle. I also shot my dad's Glock 19, only one clip, but it felt the same as mine, power wise. Otherwise, not much difference. Any recommendations for ammo; range or defense? I currently have a box of Blazer for the range still, but I have it loaded with Magtech for defense though.

Wish I would have waited to grab my target, but I didn't want to wait, no automation so we would have had to wait for another cease fire. I'll be back at the range this week, guaranteed.

Nice piece, congratulations on the purchase. IMHO don't waste money hanging a bunch of extras on the gun that it doesn't need...save the money for your next gun.

+1 to gorknoids comments. Be safe and ENJOY!

Also, consider joining the NRA or some other mainstream pro-firearm advocacy group, maybe even just at the state level (we have the Oklahoma Rifle Association here). If we don't support pro-gun lobby groups, no one will.

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I had trouble with the speedloader thing on the XD45 i recently bought. I finally figured it out & felt kinda dumb. Basically, i just put it on top of the mag & use the lil tab to push down the top round as i slide another in the mag to the point where the back of the round is against the speedloader thing, then i remove the speedloader thing & push the round all the way to the back of the mag. That may not be the right way, but it makes it easier to get lucky #13 in that mag.

What kind of holster is that? The lil one that came with my XD seems fairly useless, i want to envelope the trigger area.

I had trouble with the speedloader thing on the XD45 i recently bought. I finally figured it out & felt kinda dumb. Basically, i just put it on top of the mag & use the lil tab to push down the top round as i slide another in the mag to the point where the back of the round is against the speedloader thing, then i remove the speedloader thing & push the round all the way to the back of the mag. That may not be the right way, but it makes it easier to get lucky #13 in that mag.

What kind of holster is that? The lil one that came with my XD seems fairly useless, i want to envelope the trigger area.

Don't feel dumb. I had never a magazine loader like that before either. I finally figured out how to use it when I was just playing with it.

I don't care for the holster that came with it either, but better than nothing. I recently got a paddled holster for it.